When you need this

Baseball is huge in the U.S., Japan, South Korea and much of Latin America, and it's close to invisible in plenty of other places. So if you move to Chicago or Osaka, or go to a work event at a ballpark, you might find yourself watching a game you don't understand. That's fine. Fans love explaining it.

Here's the shape. Two teams take turns: one bats and tries to score, the other pitches and fields. Each turn is half an inning, and a normal game has nine innings. The batting side keeps going until it gets three outs. A player scores a run by going around all four bases and back home.

The phrase "Can you explain...?" is your best friend here. Asking a fan a real question shows interest and makes the three hours go much faster.

Phrases

one round where each team bats once; a game has nine

try to hit the ball; your turn to hit

the player who throws the ball to the batter

a pitch the batter misses or should have hit

a pitch outside the area, so the batter doesn't swing

a batter or runner removed from play; three ends the half

one point, scored by reaching home plate

reaching base safely after hitting the ball

a hit that leaves the field, so the batter scores

the stadium where baseball is played

the first half, and the second half

more innings when the game is tied after nine

Say it out loud

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

Practice · 3 min

Say one natural line for each situation.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.